Shawn Gingue checking on this season s wheat crop at NEK Grains Shawn grew up doing chores on the family farm. He always thought he d be a dairyman like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, whom he called Grandpère. He s lived in Waterford for all of his 40 years except the seven when he and one of his brothers ran their own dairy in Fairfax. In 2014, the brothers returned to the home farm to invest and modernize, Shawn said. But the milk price was just not going to support that. It was a tough decision to sell the herd, but the reprieve from nonstop chores and price pressure gave me space to think, he said.
Seven Days Backdoor Bread granola One of my pandemic hobbies has been leaving home for food. I don’t mean walking three blocks to City Market, but rather driving to Shelburne for eggs or the Roots Farm Market in Middlesex to buy spinach, potatoes and onions. Before attacking me for this heedless waste of resources, consider the efficiency: Sometimes I get a brownie and hummus at Red Hen Baking, down the road from the market. Consistent with this activity, on Tuesday I drove 10 miles to buy bread at Backdoor Bread in Charlotte. The whole-grain bread bakery is owned and operated by Jim and Lynn Williams, who formerly owned Seven Stars Bakery in Providence, R.I.